Here’s Mark Sanford’s second-ever public schedule. Still no actual public events, but there’s no news in that — he never has been much of one for such events. One of the minor complaints I’ve gotten about this guy since Day One was that he has a tendency not to go to the kind of schoozing events that most politicians love.
One reason I predicted a couple of weeks back to ETV that he would decide soon to resign was because he has NEVER liked the “being on display” thing. This is a guy who would MUCH rather be digging holes on the “farm” than interacting with humans. Since a governor of South Carolina can get away with doing very little, it wasn’t so hard on him, until the Argentina trip. I predicted that it wouldn’t take long before, with all this new scrutiny, he would decide it wasn’t worth it. Not because of people demanding he resign or anything, but just because it wasn’t worth it to him. Perhaps, if he ever starts having actual public events, my prediction will turn out to be correct. But so far, I missed the call. (If you want to see actual video of me getting it wrong, click here.)
I’ve always figured that the reason his office didn’t put out a public schedule was that they didn’t want anyone to notice just how little he did in public — or worse, how little he did in private, either.
But with the new “openness,” he’s putting them out — sort of. Here is his list of chores for the week, without days or times — just stuff he says he’ll do sometime this week:
Gov. Sanford’s Public Schedule – Mon., July 13 – Fri., July 17, 2009
Columbia, S.C. – July 13, 2009 – No public events are currently scheduled for this week, but we will advise individually for any event added. Gov. Sanford will be working in Columbia for the week, with intermittent trips to Sullivan’s Island.
Meetings and briefings Gov. Sanford will take part in this week include:
– Meeting with staff and First Steps Director Susan DeVenny regarding the potential transfer of the Baby Net program from DHEC to First Steps
– Meeting with new Emergency Management Division Director Ricky Platt, who was named recently to succeed retiring director Ron Osborne
– Briefing by Comptroller General Richard Eckstrom regarding the work of the Stimulus Oversight Task Force
– Briefing by Board of Economic Advisors Chairman John Rainey regarding revenue forecasts in advance of the following week’s BEA meeting
– Receive a revenue update from state Department of Revenue Director Ray Stevens
– Receive an economic development briefing from Secretary of Commerce Joe Taylor and Deputy Secretary for New Investment Jack Ellenberg
– Briefing by Department of Social Services Director Kathleen Hayes regarding the upcoming release of an LAC audit of DSS.
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Have you considered broadening your horizons beyond celebrity tabloid stalking of Governor Sanford?
And I don’t mean stalking some more people.
How about tracking the waste and corruption in the $8 billion of Porkulus Money?
He’s scheduled for lots of listening to briefings, and not much else other than those “intermittent trips to Sullivan’s Island.” I guess we’re supposed to be reassured that he is working on his marriage, which Tom Davis and others tell us is the most important thing, but personally I’m not interested in paying someone to work on his marriage. On the other hand, it is better than his working to destroy public education.
Jenny must be so pleased; she said early in his first term that she didn’t like living in Columbia.
Let’s see… that’s two meetings and five briefings. A normal chief executive of a large business would spend no more than one hour for each of those events. Subordinates, who couldn’t summarize for the boss all that he needed to know, allowing for questions, in less than an hour would be fired.
So, to be generous and in keeping with typical government (in)efficiency, let’s say that the guv needs TWICE as much time as an average corp exec. That would be 14 hours of work crammed into a 40 hour week.
Did I just read a comment about “waste and corruption”?
While I wholeheartedly agree that the federal stimulus is just so much BS (on too many levels to even begin mentioning why), maybe Sanford should start looking for fraud, waste, and abuse in his own bathroom mirror.
Someone told me about this clip on the Rachel Maddow show about the C Street house that Sanford, DeMint, Enright, and others have been connected with. I have to say this organization seems to explain pretty much everything about Mark Sanford – why he’s been content to accomplish nothing as a Congressman or Governor, why he compared himself to King David, why he wants vouchers for private schools, and why he feels entitled to disappear. It even makes me wonder if the famous futon in his office was just a ruse – that he lived at C Street the whole time he was in Washington. I wish someone would look more deeply into this organization and its connection to all the politicians SC has sent to Washington all these years.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26315908/